Friendship is crazy Literally!
by AdamCourier
Summary: It's a story about Sakura being sent by her teacher to work at a mental instutution for a year. When her only patient is a mysterious red haired boy with a grusome past, will she be able to find a friend in him and prove his innocence? Find out!
1. Chapter 1

Wow! This is my second fanfic. So I'm not sure how it will turn out. It may seem like other mental instutution stories about GaaSaku that you've heard, but believe me, it has a completely different plot line.

I do not own Naruto! YAY!...whatever. just read the story. Oh! If you want it to continue, plese tell me. BYE!

Sakura sighed. She was alone, standing in front of a precariously large cement building. There were no windows, and the old white paint was chipping away to the stone cold gray of the rock. Her name was Sakura Haruno. Medical intern. She had been assigned by her mentor to visit a hospital for her final test. Thanks to her other intern 'friends' choosing the best ones, she was stuck working at a mental institution. She couldn't wait. Even though she was standing outside the sturdy iron doors, she could still hear the crashing and banging of her soon-to-be-clients inside. She silently wondered what made her agree with this. Shizune had said that she could go to a hospital in another state, but NO, she _wanted _to go to the nut house. What was she thinking?! She sighed, then took a deep breath, and prepared herself to go in.

She was walking up the steps, when suddenly, the door flew open, reveling a blonde haired woman standing there. A man was trying miserably to fight her, but the woman jabbed something into his back and he was quickly knocked out. Several medics rushed up and placed the man carefully on a stretcher. Sakura's mouth was hanging open. The woman brushed herself off, then turned to Sakura. She wore a white lab coat that reached down to her knees, and her hair was pulled up in two identical pigtails. Sakura looked into the deep brown eyes of the woman, as she smirked.

"Welcome to your first day on the job. You'll be needing this." She handed Sakura a tranquilizer syringe. The woman's smile faded.

"Your Sakura Haruno right?" the female asked inquisitively. Sakura was still shocked by how the tall woman in front of her had knocked out the man, and was staring at the blonde in a daze.

"Hello?! Any body home?!" The pink haired medic looked up, blinked a few times, and then presuming the lady was talking to her, said, "Yes Ma'am?" The woman rolled her eyes and said, "Follow me."

The girl obeyed and followed the brown-eyed lady into the place where she would be working for the next few months. She tucked the syringe in a special pocket, then she took one last quick glimpse outside, to the green world, then turned and followed her instructor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The walls of the place had seen better days decades ago. There was graffiti on the iron walls, as well as an assortment of stains that lined the bur carpet floor. Sakura looked up from the disgusting ground as the tall woman turned. "Okay, let's get started shall we? My name is Tsunade Matsumaki. You will never use or address me by my last name. I am the head honcho of this establishment and you will be under my supervision. Got it?" Sakura gulped. _Not much of a welcome speech. But then again, she is the supervisor of a mental institution._

"Yes Tsunade." Sakura replied. Tsunade nodded.

"Alright, if you'll follow me, I will show you all your patients and their room numbers. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." This woman seemed like she had given this speech many times before. Sakura shuddered as she thought about how many interns this place must have gone through. She walked down the long hallway with her new boss. Thinking about how she would be able to last long here. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't know she was speeding up and smacked into her employers back. She fell to the ground and skidded a few inches as her face went bright pink.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry Tsunade!" She squeaked, feeling extremely embarrassed. Tsunade smiled.

"Don't worry about it. That seems to happen a lot with interns." She helped Sakura to her feet and Sakura dusted off her uniform before she continued walking. Sakura looked through the door windows as the strolled down the gloomy hallway. Many of the people she got a glimpse of had straight jackets on. Sakura silently wondered if any of those were her clients. In front of one door she stopped. A girl about the age of seven was trying to strangle one of her nurses as the medical team tried to pull her off of them. Tsunade saw what she was looking at and joined her.

"That's Mitsuki. She got admitted when she started terrorizing the neighbors and carving their bushes in the shape of hearts then setting them on fire." Sakura gulped. This was going to be the longest year of her life. Finally they reached an old elevator where Tsunade entered her key and they went inside.

The elevator itself was in bad shape. Like the rest of interior of the hospital, it was made of rusty iron and had a gaping hole in the side, where someone had apparently punched a hole in the wall. Tsunade saw what Sakura was staring towards and said, "It's not as bad as it looks. Not all of our patients are this violent. Only the ones in the basement." Sakura turned her head and looked at the elevator number pad. The numbers lighted were the fourth floor, the second floor, and the basement floor. Sakura looked at Tsunade, then the number pad, and then to the hole in the wall. _One of my new patients is in the basement. _She thought terrified. Then she followed Tsunade, as their elevator came to a complete stop.


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting the red haired patient

Chapter two.

Sakura left the elevator alone. They had visited the fourth and second floor patients already, and she was traveling by herself to the dark chasm of the basement. Tsunade had an emergency to attend to on the sixth floor, and Sakura had to travel down the dark elevator by herself. Her only consolation was the fact that she would be leaving soon. Her other patients had been a little less then delightful to meet.

Her patient on the second floor was a girl, about the age of fifteen, who had set her house on fire when she was mad. No one was hurt and all the pets got out safely, but when she went to juvie, she had snuck in some matches and set some of the other kid's hair on fire. Not a good scenario. Luckily, she would be leaving the hospital in a few days to go to a higher security institution. One with a lot less things to practice pyrotechnics on.

The next patient was there because he had a mental breakdown in the middle of Wal-Mart. No one was hurt, but a few stuffed animals didn't make it out as easily. They couldn't send him to jail since he was only nine, but they were afraid the stuffed animals could quickly change to something of a larger size if he didn't get help. He had only been here a few weeks, and he too would be leaving in a few days.

All that was left, was a boy the same age as Sakura, who had been in the basement since he was three. Sakura knew that he must have done something really bad to end up in the basement seventeen years ago. The doctors claimed he was extremely unstable at the sight of blood, and was to be approached cautiously. Great. The one patient that she would have for the next six months, would most likely kill her before she could introduce herself.

She let out a large breath that she unknowingly had held, as the elevator slowed. Sakura walked along the dank and dimly lit hallway when a woman's voice came from behind her.

"Can I help you miss?" Sakura jumped and then turned to see a woman sitting at a desk that she had not seen a second ago.

"Yeah, um…I'm looking for this patient." She held up her paper and the woman's face instantly turned from rosy pink, to a pale white.

"They gave you an unstable patient on your first day here?" Sakura blinked.

"Unstable? What do you mean by that?" The woman looked around cautiously. As if afraid someone was watching her. Then she leaned in close and Sakura did the same.

"They say he got in here because his whole family was found dead in the house except for him. He wasn't even crying! And all the evidence that they found, said that he killed them. I don't believe it, but ever since they emitted him, all of his nurses mysteriously disappeared and never came back." Sakura leaned back stunned. Was all of this really true? Sakura was still putting all of this together when the woman spoke again.

"I feel so sorry for you miss. I really do." Then she pointed down the hall and told Sakura his room number. She was scared now. The woman said she didn't believe it, but it was still creepy. Sakura looked up and gulped. She had reached his door. She gulped again, as she saw that there was no window on the iron entrance. She slowly reached up and placed her key in the lock, and turned. The heavy clanking of tumblers and numerous locks rang out in the humid air. The sound of chains moving was easily heard in the dusty air. Suddenly, they stopped, and the door creaked open. Sakura felt as if she were in a horror movie as she cautiously walked in.

"Hello?" Silence.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Silence. Sakura was officially creeped out now. The room was pitch black, and she fumbled around for the light switch. She finally found a chain, which she presumed to be attached to a light bulb and pulled it. A faint glow came from the ceiling as she did so. As she looked around the room, off in a corner, she saw a splash of red. Her heart thumped faster. At a glance she thought it was blood, but after a closer look, she noticed that it was the boy's hair. She had never seen natural hair that red before. She found herself staring at the boy for about a minute. Suddenly, she was pulled out of her trance-like state when he looked up.

"Who are you?" Sakura barley heard his question.  
She was staring at his eyes. They were the lightest blue she had ever seen in her life. "Well?" Sakura looked back down at him and stared at the boy like she had just noticed him. She coughed embarrassedly, and straitened herself back up.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I will be your new nurse." She said brightly. Trying to cheer up the dank cell mood. He blinked.

"I'm not sick." He replied. It was Sakura's turn to blink now. She felt the happy pep she tried to make shatter. The red-haired boy sighed.

"How long will you be here?" He asked her. His voice was deep, but it also sounded like he was sick. Sakura looked back down at her clipboard.

"Until you get better." The boy rolled his eyes.

"The therapists say I'm never going to get better. So when will you quit?" This boy seemed persistent to make her leave.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked him. The boy looked at her square in the eyes. "Patient number 52638." Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Was that the name your mother gave you?" She asked. The boy looked at her again.

"I don't know. The medics just call me that." The boy's voice was bored sounding as he said this. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows and said, "The name on this piece of paper says that your name is Gaara. Do you want to be called that?" The teen looked at her, and then back to the ground. Then she heard him utter "How long until you quit?" Sakura sighed. It was pointless to try and interact with this guy.

"I'm not going to quit." The boy looked back up.

"Yes you will. All the others quitted on their first day. It won't be long." The teen said. His voice sounded aggravated at this point, so Sakura, not wanting to anger him, said nothing. Now that Sakura had a closer look at him, she saw that his eyes were rimmed with black.

"You should get some rest." She told him. The boy shook his head.

"I don't sleep." _Insomnia._ Sakura remembered that she had done a whole section on insomniacs. They usually never slept because they were scared. She was wondering what Gaara was afraid of, when Tsunade burst through the door.

"Sakura, we need you to get to the third floor now. Some girl sprained her leg and we need a medic. Oh! Hello patient 52638." Gaara grunted in response and looked away. Sakura looked back at Gaara then to Tsunade.

"His name is Gaara." Tsunade looked at Sakura quizzically, then said.

"I'm sorry. I hope your tolerating Sakura's company…Gaara." The boy's eyes widened. Tsunade closed the door halfway so Sakura could leave, then she walked briskly down the hall. Before leaving, Sakura turned and said, "I promise Gaara, I'm not going to quit." She closed the door behind her and the old light bulb keeping the room lit went out. Leaving Gaara in the darkness again.


	3. Chapter 3 Gaara's Painting

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE- Sakura's fist slammed into the pink electronic alarm clock. She pulled her hand back, to find out that she had smashed it. _Snap. Now I'll have to buy another one._ Sakura yawned as she got up and threw the bent scrap of metal that was her alarm clock, into her trashcan. It was six-thirty A.M. and Sakura was NOT happy. Before she got her job at the mental institution, she would have laughed at the moron who had to get up at six-thirty. Now, she was regretting the bad Karma that was coming her way. She routinely put on her uniform and walked into the kitchen. She sat herself down on the cold wooden chair and began to eat her breakfast. She didn't have time to fully drench her cereal with milk and it was horribly crunchy. Her watch beeped and she looked down at it. _Crap. I'm going to be late._ She thought as she shoved the rest of the crunchy cereal down her throat before jumping out the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Your late."

"I know Gaara. I'm sorry. My alarm clock didn't go off." She lied.

"Hn." Sakura sighed. It was her fifth day of working with Gaara, and so far, she got nothing out of him. She even tried to play a game with him before her pointed out that the age requirement to play it was three and up. He explained to her that he was twenty, and would not be caught dead playing such a childish game as 'Chutes and Ladders'. Sakura felt a little embarrassed as he said that. That was her favorite game.

When she brought him some paint, he was surprised. He didn't say much to her that day, because he was to busy examining the quality of the brushes she brought.

That brings her to today, where she bought new brushes that Gaara thought were 'okay, but not the best.' She also bought him some new paints and a sketchbook too. She watched him as his hand glided along the paper with ease. She gazed in fascination as his wrists were making small flicking motions when he came to a detailed part. After about forty-five minutes he leaned back on his heels and sighed. Sakura walked up behind him and stared at the picture. She raised an eyebrow. On the page, where nothing but a bunch of very small dots.

"Umm…that's…nice Gaara." The boy rolled his eyes. He stood up and walked to the other side of the room and held up the picture. Sakura gasped as she saw…herself? As he moved away from her, she noticed how the picture came more focused. She saw the direction of every one of her pink locks, and her eyes seemed to shine right off the page. Her nose was curved perfectly and every feature of her face was completely accurate. Even her skin tone was perfect. It was stunning. She didn't even know that he was staring at her face the whole time he was drawing this. She looked from him, to the picture, then back to him.

"How did you learn to draw like this?" she asked. Gaara shrugged. Sakura walked closer to him, and the whole picture faded away. Back to the billions of tiny dots. She looked back to the paint set, and noticed that he had used up all of the primary colors, but none of the purples, greens, or oranges were touched.

"Why didn't you use that green for my eyes?" Sakura asked, gesturing to the green tube of paint on the ground. Gaara blinked.

"Because it wasn't the right green for your eyes." Sakura blushed. He had been staring at her eyes, and she never knew. Gaara noticed her blush and looked at his painting.

"Your face is a lot pinker than I colored. Maybe I should-"

"No Gaara! Umm…I'm just not feeling well right now. I should be getting home anyway." Gaara's eyes showed the tiniest bit of remorse for her leaving, but he quickly covered it.

"Bye." He said, placing his picture up against the wall.

"Bye." Sakura said as she left, closing the iron door. Leaving Gaara and his painting alone for the rest of the night. Again.


	4. Chapter 4 Gaara's File

Sakura's footsteps echoed in the dark street. She had just finished working with Gaara, and was heading home for the night. She was amazed at how much progress he was making. He was no longer asking her to leave, and he was talking a lot more. Sakura was still puzzled, about why he got admitted. She knew the story and everything, but she didn't think it was likely that Gaara would hurt anybody. Especially when he was only three.

Sakura stopped walking. She turned around and walked down a side street that she knew well. After about thirty minutes of walking, she reached her destination. The hospital.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She opened the entrance, and shuffled down the hallway. She tried to remain as quiet as possible. She wasn't aloud in the hospital unless she worked here. She stopped in front of a door. The bronze plaque on the door read: 'Patient Files Room'. She pulled out her old set of keys that Shizune gave her for trips to this place, and unlocked the steel door. She walked through the entrance and searched among the many filing cabinets. She decided that she would find out the whole story about Gaara. Not just the small bits that the nurses told her.

She searched for ten long minutes before she found it. She pulled the heavy door open, and studied the files one by one. She finally came upon a file with the name Gaara on it, but the words stamped on the front were what caught her eye the most. TOP SECRET, DO NOT OPEN, and CONFIDENTIAL blazed across the tan envelope in bright red lettering. Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at the envelope before her. Her hand tentatively moved forward and-

"Hello? Who's in here?" Sakura's hand snapped back from the packet, and she reeled around. _Crud. _She left the door cracked open.

"Who's in there?" The masculine voice rang out again. Sakura quickly shut the iron cabinet door behind her and made a mad scramble for the Janitor's closet. Luckily, it was in the same room, and she pushed the rusty tin buckets out of the way and scrunched down.

Heavy footsteps thunked against the ground. Sakura held her breath as the man's flashlight passed in front of the closet door.

"Huh. Maybe Haru left the door open on accident." The footsteps receded and the light from the flashlight disappeared. Sakura sat there silently for a few moments then opened the door slightly and peered around. Seeing no one, she stood up and brushed a few pink locks out of her face. She quickly and quietly made her exit out of the room, through the exit, and out into the chilly night. She once more grasped the folder close to her, and sprinted toward her house.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura's eyes traveled over the open envelope. The Pictures that were sprawled out on her mahogany table were gruesome to say the least. There were numerous pictures of bright red splattered floors, and other scarlet objects. She looked through the pile of photographs until she found one that caught her attention. There, sitting on the scarlet floor, sat a three-year-old boy. His eyes were scared and he looked like he was crying. _But the nurses said that he didn't cry at all._ Sakura thought suspiciously as the picture was held firmly in her grip. She carefully placed the photo in her pocket, and then searched over the case files. There were pictures of what Sakura believed to be Gaara's family. There was a boy and a girl who looked to be about the same age, although the girl was a bit taller. The next picture showed a man. He looked around thirty five, and his spiky hair resembled Gaara's. The man was frowning in the picture and his arms were folded over his chest. _Wow. That has to be Gaara's father. He even has the same frown._ She looked through the pages until she found a picture of a woman. She looked a bit younger than Gaara's father, but not much. Sakura looked at the date of how old she was when the picture was taken, and saw in bold lettering. **Deceased. November 24, 1965 to January 19, 1995. **Sakura blinked. Gaara's birthday was January 19, 1995. She looked down the page to **Cause of** **Death** and read it silently**: 'Childbirth.'** Sakura felt a pang of sadness for her red-haired comrade. _He never knew his mother._ Instantly, she flipped back to the pages where the other children's pictures were. **Cause of Death: Murder**. The words stung. Sakura wasn't willing to believe that Gaara killed anyone yet. She turned back to his father's page. She scanned the page three times, but was un-able to find the cause of death. Sakura blinked again. What did it mean? Was the man murdered? Or is he still out there? Sakura decided that she would ask the one person that was most likely to know. The one person whose page they left out of the folder. Gaara. She was placing the files back into the envelope, when a voice came from behind her.

"So it was you."

Oooooo! Cliffhanger. Tune in to find out what happens next!


	5. Chapter 5 Shizune's Story

Sakura froze. Her heartbeat intensified as the person walked up behind her. She closed her eyes. She knew that whatever was coming next, it would not be good.

"Sakura, why did you steal that file?" Sakura opened her eyes. She knew that voice. She turned around, and standing behind her was no other than,

"Shizune?" Sakura asked. The woman standing in front of her was no other than her old professor.

"Shizune! Oh I'm so glad It's you!" Shizune glared at her. Sakura forced a nervous giggle, but Shizune held out her hand, demanding the file. Sakura reluctantly handed it over and her old professor took one look at it and gasped.

"YOU STOLE THE MOST SECRET FILE?!" She screamed, practically shaking with fury. Sakura sank down.

"I didn't know! It wasn't my fault! I just wanted to-"

"YOU JUST WANTED TO _WHAT?_" Shizune yelled. Obviously angry with her old student.

"Well you see, Gaara's a patient of mine and I wanted to find out what happened to his family and- I'M SO SORRY SHIZUNE!" Sakura cried. Instantly Shizune's glare softened.

"He's your patent too huh?" She asked sadly. Sakura lowered her arms down from In front of her face and looked up. _What does she mean by that? _Sakura thought. Shizune walked over to Sakura's couch and motioned for her to do the same. Sakura cautiously sat down next to her ex-professor and listened. As she looked into Shizune's black eyes, she saw so much sadness. She was wondering how she knew Gaara, when she spoke.

"I suppose you want the whole story." Sakura stared. She never saw her professor so sad before. Sakura nodded and the young woman continued.

"About ten years ago, I was assigned to go to Konoha Mental institution by my teacher Tsunade. At the time, she wasn't working there, like you know her to, but I'm getting off track. Anyway, I was the same age as you when I started working there. They set me up with three patients, two would soon fall into some other interns hands, but the one I got put with for my whole time there, was Gaara." Sakura was stunned. So Shizune _did_ know Gaara.

"He was nice. He was a good ten year old, but he did have some problems with not liking me. For the first few days, all I got from him was "When will you leave?" and "When will you quit?" Finally, I asked him what he liked to do. He said that he didn't know, so I bought him some paint. The second his eyes laid on the set, he became so much nicer. He often spent his time drawing stick figures, then he started getting better and better at drawing, until he drew a picture of me. It was beautiful to say the least. Everything about it…was so perfect." Sakura sat there bewildered. _So that's how Gaara knows how to paint. _

"The nurses kept telling me to stay away. They told me all the stories they could think of to get me to leave, but I didn't listen. I was so fixated on making Gaara be happy, that I didn't see the real danger in being his friend." Sakura stared at the black haired woman in front of her.

"Shizune," The woman looked up.

"What happened?" The woman smiled.

"I knew you were going to ask that. So I'll get right to the point. One day after I left the Institution, I was taking my usual route to my house. All of a sudden, I felt someone else's presence. I turned, and I saw a man following me. He had spiky brown hair, and the darkest black eyes that I had ever seen. I thought he would go away, so I kept walking, and the man kept following. I was scared now, so I started to hurry up my pace. But I could tell. I knew he was following me. So I started running, but it was to late. The man Grabbed by neck and pushed me into a brick wall. My head hurt so badly. I could actually feel some blood trickle down my neck. He told me that if I ever went near Gaara again, he would kill me. I was so scared. I didn't want to leave Gaara alone, but I didn't want to die either. So I did what I thought was best, and never went back.  
I knew that Gaara would know when I left. Days turned to weeks, and I never saw that man, or Gaara again." Her voice started too crack, but Sakura knew she wasn't finished.

"So when you were assigned to the Mental Institution, I was scared for you. I offered you a way out. I told you that you could go to a different state and work there. But you didn't. And now…now that you've read the file, I'm sure you know who that man was. The man that threatened to kill me." Sakura thought back to everything that Shizune had said and froze.

_Gaara's father._


	6. Sakura's Question, and a Suprise Visit

Chapter 6 Sakura's Question, and a Surprise visit.

Sakura sat in the rusty old bus in complete shock. Even though Shizune talked to her last night, she was still thinking about the thought of being confronted by Gaara's father, who was _supposed _to be dead. It was just scary to think about. She knew now that Gaara had nothing to do with the deaths of his family, and most likely, this man was the one who murdered them.

"Miss? Miss? Hey lady, isn't this your stop?" Her head snapped up, and she saw Hibiki, the bus driver who had been driving her to work everyday, calling to her. She blushed, grabbed her things, and quickly made an exit. Dropping a few nickels in the tips box that was taped to the dashboard. He tipped his hat to her as she walked out into the freezing December air. She walked a while in the icy world. Her feet were crunching under three inches of fallen snow, and one inch of solid ice. She looked behind her and saw no one. After the story Shizune told her, she wasn't going to take any chances. Finnaly, she rounded the corner that took her to her destination. As she turned to find her keys, she froze. A man was standing about ten feet away. And getting closer. She quickly whipped out the numerous keys, and placing the right one in the lock, she rushed into the building and locked the door behind her. She panted for breath as she looked out the small window. The man was grinning at her and he waved. She could barely hear him from inside the locked door, but she could understand what he was saying.

"Is that any way to treat your best friend?" Sakura smiled, unlocked the door, and ran outside.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed happily, as she hugged him. Naruto smiled and pulled something out of his pocket.

"Merry Christmas!" He said happily. Sakura squealed and opened the box. Inside was an emerald necklace, a gift card for her favorite store, and two coupons for free ramen. Sakura giggled as she hugged him again.

"Thanks Naruto." She beamed. He smiled at her. Out of nowhere, her watch beeped. She sighed.

"I'll have to catch up with you after work so we can go eat ramen together." Sakura said. Naruto nodded and replied, "Yeah! Sounds great. See you at four o' clock!" Sakura waved and entered the building. If she were to look outside again, she would have noticed the form of a man, hiding behind the trees, listening in on everything they said. "So, you get off work at four. Perfect. That fits into my schedule nicely." The man laughed and walked away. Leaving behind a clueless Sakura, and a trail of snowy footprints.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright Gaara, today, lets try doing something different." The boy looked at her nervously.

"Your not going to make me play another board game are you?" Sakura giggled, but the look on Gaara's face told her that he wasn't kidding. Sakura sighed.

"No Gaara, I'm not going to force you to play another board game with me." Gaara nodded, but his eyes were still showing suspicion. Sakura sat down next to Gaara, but she could tell he was uncomfortable with the close conditions, so she scooted back a little.

"I wan you to tell me about yourself." Sakura said, after about a minute of silence. Gaara's eyes widened, and Sakura knew what he was going to say. Silence followed, as Gaara said nothing. Then, unexpectedly, he said, "What do you want to know?"


	7. Chapter 7 Gaara's Memories

Chapter 7 Gaara's Memories

"Well…" Sakura was thinking about what to ask Gaara. She didn't want to bring up something like, 'Did you know that your dad is on a killing rampage and is currently Stalking me?' or 'Did you know that your dad is the one who threatened your friend to the point of no return, and is planning to do the same with me, because he's still out there wrecking havoc on the city?'. No. She didn't think he would like that very much. So she decided on something simple.

"When was the last time you saw the sun?" Gaara blinked. He was expecting her to say something like, 'When was the last time you had a shower, because you really stink.' Or maybe, 'Did you know that everyone here hates you because they think you killed your entire family?' or something like that. Finnaly realizing that he hadn't responded, he said, "I haven't seen the sun since they emitted me." Sakura's eyes grew large.

"You haven't seen the sun in seventeen years?" Gaara shook his head.

"I don't feel bad about it though. Some people in the basement haven't seen the sun in over sixty years." If Gaara was surprised when Sakura's eyes were 'larger than-the-human- body- allowed' before, he was surprised more when her eyes grew even bigger.

"How do you do that without physically hurting yourself?" He asked. Sakura laughed and the corners of Gaara's mouth twitched upward slightly. The redhead was not usually one who smiled a lot, but when he did, it brightened his face considerably.

"Okay, next question. How long will you be kept in this cell? I've never even seen you leave the room before." Gaara's small smile faded. Instantly, Sakura knew she had said something that saddened him.

" First off, I will never leave this cell. Recently, a man who was next to my cell passed away. He was seventy-eight, and he had been here since 1952, and was never allowed to come out of his cell. And secondly, it is physically impossible for me to go out of this room." Sakura was surprised to say the least. _He will never leave this room?_

"Why can't you leave?" Gaara frowned and pulled the collar of his shirt down slightly. There, pressed tightly against his pale skin, was a shock collar.

"This collar prevents me from leaving, and hurting other patients. I got it when my first nurse disappeared." Sakura stared at the collar. As she read along the sticker, it said that it would apply enough shock to knock someone out for days.

"The old warden used to shock me for the fun of it. That's why one of the girls down here died. She was shocked at such a young age, that she had to be rushed to the hospital." Sakura bit her lip. As she looked beyond the collar, she saw many large blackish rings that went around Gaara's neck. _The warden must have shocked him a lot if those scars are that bad. _Sakura thought sadly. _And to think that he actually shocked a girl to death. That's just abuse. _She thought as she stared at Gaara.

"Well?" Gaara asked. Sakura looked up.

"Well what?" Gaara stared at her like she was crazy.

"Are you just going to sit there pitying me, or are you going to ask a question?" Gaara said. Sakura blushed bright pink.

"Umm okay… how many different stories have you heard about your past?" Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's see. There was the version where I fed my family to poisonous snakes, then there was the time some lady said I choked my siblings on pop-tarts, chopped up my fathers body and stuffed it in the box, and the all famous tragic love story where my girlfriend left me and I went on a killing spree. What they still don't seem to get, is that I was _three._ To young to have a pet snake _or _a girlfriend, and I hate pop-tarts." Sakura giggled and Gaara laughed. He quickly stopped when he noticed what he did. Sakura stared at him wide-eyed. For a boy living in a cell at a mental facility, she thought Gaara was incapable of laughter. Gaara coughed nervously.

"Next question." Sakura looked at her watch. She only had forty-five minutes left with Gaara, and she knew she had to start asking the big questions now. She also knew that when she asked Gaara this next question, he probably wouldn't like it.

"Ummm…Gaara… what really happened to your family?" The room was filled with a long silence.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer, I don't mind. Really, I don't." Gaara's head was bowed slightly. She knew he didn't want to answer the question.

"No. It's fine Sakura. The truth is, I'm not really sure what happened. My father never wanted me. He called me an unfortunate mistake and left me alone. My brother and sister, their names were Temari and Kankuro. They were nicer than my father because they were only five, but they still weren't nice. One day, I was walking home from the park. My father never cared where I went during the day, and if I were to get killed, it would just be one less mistake messing him up. I had no shoes to take off, so I just went inside. I didn't hear the yells my father always greeted me with, so I knew something was wrong. I went into the living room and…"

He stopped, but Sakura knew what he was going to say. He found them dead in the room. Silently, she watched as her friend tried to fight back tears. She remembered when Naruto did this once. She honestly had no idea how to calm him down, so she hugged him. Naruto just sat their for a few minutes before he thanked Sakura and went to go buy some ramen to cheer him up, but she seriously doubted Gaara would want to be in close quarters, and he wouldn't go to buy ramen either. But despite all this, she still hugged Gaara.

At first he flinched, but then he relaxed his muscles and sat there in silence, as Sakura hugged his shaking form. They sat there for a few minutes, before Gaara's head fell sideways onto Sakura's shoulder. She looked down, and saw that he had fallen asleep. Sakura was shocked. Gaara had insomnia, so it was practically impossible for him to sleep, but here he was, snoozing away against Sakura's shoulder. She didn't want to leave him here alone, but her watch beeped and she looked down. It was time for her to go, and she had to meet Naruto. She carefully lay him on the ground and turned to leave. Her hand was inches away from the handle, but she stopped. She turned around and looked at Gaara. He was shaking. Warily, Sakura took off her fleece coat. Then she carefully positioned Gaara so he was lying on the jacket. The doctors knew he was insomniatic, so they removed the bed from his cell, and put it in some other person's room, so Gaara didn't have a bed to sleep on. Once she made sure she didn't wake him, she quietly strode over to the door and opened it softly. Letting a small rectangle of light shine on the cold floor before closing it, and Gaara was enveloped in the dark room again.


	8. Chapter 8 Tsunades Big Fat Paycheck

Sakura walked down the ugly hallway. Her nose crinkled as she smelled the sickening food that the patients were forced to eat. A few moments ago, she left Gaara in his room with her coat. Luckily, she brought another one today and she slowly pulled that on. Naruto called a second ago to say that he would meet her at Ichiraku's Ramen shop, so she didn't need to pick him up. He had failed driver's education seven times, and when he final got his paper that said he could drive somewhere, he lost it in two hours. Sakura smiled as she recalled his face, as she walked briskly down the dim hallway. She finnaly reached the exit, and was about to unlock it, when she saw him.

The man's arms were folded over his chest, and he was glaring angrily at the door. Sakura quickly ducked out of the way of his sight, and panted heavily. Gaara's father had found her.

"Sakura! There you are! I was looking for you. Did you know that Gaara's sleeping? Somehow he has your coat and- Sakura, what's wrong?" Tsunade said concerned as she peered around the corner. Sakura was never happier to see Tsunade in her life.

"Tsunade, I need you to drive me to your house." The blonde woman blinked.

"Sakura, my schedule is very busy and-"

"Tsunade, please! I _really _need you to take my to your house now." She said urgently. Tsunade blinked at her again and she glanced outside the window and saw the man.

"He's not following you, is he?" She asked. Sakura made a small nod and Tsunade sighed.

"Hanabi, can you take over my shift for the rest of the day? I have to leave early." Tsunade called over her shoulder. A small black haired girl nodded and walked down the hall.

"I'll get y coat. See if he's still there." Sakura nodded as Tsunade disappeared around the corner. Sakura looked out the small square window and saw the man still standing there. Now that she saw him in real life, she saw how much he really looked like her red-haired comrade. The man was about the same size as Gaara, but his stomach was rounder, and he looked like he ate a lot.

_Unlike his son. _Sakura thought bitterly, remembering that Gaara rarely ate, because he was rarely fed.

Alright Sakura, let's get a move on." Tsunade exclaimed, as She unlocked the door. Sakura followed her out, and as she looked off in a corner, she saw the man glaring at them. She quickly looked back, but she knew Tsunade saw him too. She moved slightly closer too Sakura and she led Sakura around the sidewalk and into the employee's parking lot. Her car was awesome to say the least. It was a blue Lamborghini convertible, with a blue florescent license plate cover, and light blue flames that ran across the side.

"I know it's not much," Tsunade said as she saw Sakura eyeing her car,

'But it always amazes me when everyone stares at it. It was so cheap too." Sakura's mouth hit the ground. Tsunade hopped in the driver's seat, and beckoned Sakura into her sweet car. Sakura felt honored to even be in the cars presence as she sat down in the leather seat. As she looked at the many controls that were in the front of the car, she felt as if she were in a whole new world. She never knew Tsunade got paid this much. She seemed like an old dodge truck kind of woman to her.

"Now Sakura, do you know who that man was?" Sakura blinked.

"Uhhh, yeah. He's Gaara's father." Tsunade nodded solemnly.

"And do you know what he wants?" Sakura shook her head.

"I know he drove all of Gaara's old nurses away." Tsunade nodded again. She pulled into a stone driveway and parked her car. Sakura lingered in the seat a little longer before getting out.

"It's okay Sakura. I already made sure he wasn't following us." Sakura thanked her gratefully and stepped out onto the ground. She instantly felt a weird feeling in her boots and looked down. She knelt and wiped some snow on the ground and she gasped. Under the heavy blanket of white snowflakes, she saw a lot of multi-colored stones.

"Tsunade, what is this stuff?" Sakura asked, as she picked up a handful of the blue, green, and purple rocks.

"What? Oh! That's rat poison." Sakura yelped and dropped the stones on the ground. Tsunade laughed and motioned for Sakura to follow her into her house.

"Oh…my…" Sakura said as she craned her neck to see the top of the mansion. The walls were lined with violet paint, and the front door was a brilliant ten feet off the ground. There were large plants growing in her flowerbed, and most of them, Sakura had never seen before. She could have sworn a large petunia snapped at her as she made her way up the marble entrance.

"How many stories does your house have?" Sakura asked wondrously. Tsunade grinned.

"Four and a half stories." Sakura sent her a surprised look and Tsunade said, "The fifth story is under construction." Sakura blinked, and Tsunade opened the door with her key. If the outside of the house was wonderful, the inside was even better. Sakura looked around at the many paintings that lined the walls and she swore she saw the Mona Lisa.

"You know, it's not polite to stare." Sakura blushed, and sat down on the couch after Tsunade told her to sit.

"Now, tell me exactly what you know about Gaara's father." Tsunade ordered her.

"Well, umm…He looks like Gaara." Tsunade sighed.

"I'm aware of that Sakura. I need you to tell me about _him._ Sakura blushed.

"Ohh. Well, I know that he's the one that killed Gaara's brother and sister." Tsunade nodded once more and asked, "So you're not believing what the nurses are saying?" Sakura shook her head swiftly.

"I don't believe a word of it. Gaara wouldn't hurt a fly." Tsunade smiled mischievously.

"Did you steal his file yet?" she asked her. Sakura's blush intensified.

"Is it that obvious?" Sakura asked. The blonde-haired woman grinned.

"Your not the only one that wants to know about Gaara's past." Sakura smiled sadly, then she thought of something.

"Hey Tsunade," The woman looked up. "Do you think Gaara needs to be in the mental hospital?" Tsunade shook her head.

"No, I don't think so." Sakura stared at her feet for while before she looked up. She was about to ask Tsunade a question, when she saw something that took her breath away.

Another car was parked into Tsunade's driveway. And a man was walking out.


	9. Chapter 9 Unexpected Visitor

The man stepped out of the car. The hood of his jacket was covering his face with shadow, so Sakura couldn't see properly. With every footstep, Sakura's heart beat faster. Finnaly, a knock was heard at the door. Sakura stared at the mahogany entrance in alarm. After a few seconds, the knock was heard again.

"Sakura. Open the door." She backed away. Her back pressed up against the wall. Tsunade was on the third floor, getting a guest room ready in case Sakura wanted to stay. The doorbell rang, and Sakura listened as footsteps sounded from the marble staircase.

"Sakura. Let me in." The voice rang again.

"Sakura, are you okay?" The blonde's voice called from beside her. The woman saw her and grabbed the pink haired woman's arm and set her down on the couch.

"I got it!" Tsunade yelled as the doorbell rang again. Sakura wanted to yell out and tell her not to answer the door, but it was to late. The door swung open, and the source of Sakura's fear showed himself. Tsunade glared at the man.

"Who the heck are you?" Tsunade asked less than graciously. The man pulled back his hood, and Sakura felt extremely foolish. Naruto blinked back at her, and flashed her one of his goofy grins.

"Sorry if I scared you Sakura! I was a little bummed out when you didn't come and eat ramen with me, so I asked Sasuke to drive me to the hospital so I could see you, and I saw you leave, so I told Sasuke to get his lazy butt into gear and follow you, so we did, and now here I am talking to you about how I found you, and I started talking to you and you looked a little scared so I said How bummed out I was and that I followed you to the hospital and-" Naruto babbled for another five minutes without taking a breath, in which time Tsunade went and made her and Sakura some hot chocolate and came back before he was finished.

"and now, here I am talking to you." Sakura blinked. That was the longest incoherent string of words that she had ever heard in her life. Tsunade scratched her head.

"Okay. Now tell me. What's your name?" She asked amused. Naruto gave another on of his trademark grins and replied.

"My name is Naruto Uzamaki! Believe it! I'm going to be the next president of the United States! Believe it! Sakura's my good friend! Believe I-" Tsunade rolled her eyes. Naruto continued on with his statements until Tsunade finnaly slapped her hand over his mouth.

"Shutup!" She screamed at him. Naruto went silent. Tsunade took a deep breath and removed her hand from Naruto's mouth.

"Now tell me quietly. If you're in the house with us, and no one is in the car outside, where is the boy who drove you here?" He voice was calm and she talked slowly, just to make sure the hyper boy in front of her heard her. It took a moment for Naruto to register what she just said. Suddenly he gasped and rushed to the door and flung it open. After a few seconds, a black haired boy tentatively moved forward. He was shaking, but no one could blame him. After all, he had been standing outside for thirty minutes in the snow.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed.

" Why didn't you get in the car idiot?!" Sasuke's shaking intensified as he formed his words.

" Y-you h-have t-the k-keys." Naruto's face went pink as his hand reached in his pocket. He took the keys out, placed them in Sasuke's hand, and shut the door in the cold boy's face. Sakura watched all of this quietly. Sasuke had been her ex-boyfriend three years ago when they were in school, and after that they didn't see much of each other because Sasuke graduated early. He and Naruto usually never spoke to each other, but Sasuke showed up every once in a while from collage to say hello. The last time he showed up was a few months ago, and Sakura never got to see him since she was on a trip. She missed him for so long, and Naruto just shut the door on his face.

"Naruto you moron!" Sakura yelled at him. She walked over and punched Naruto's face so hard, it left a fist shaped dent. Tsunade laughed as Naruto lay sprawled on the ground, and Sakura threw open the door.

Sakura ran through the entrance and toward Sasuke's car, when all of a sudden, everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10 Possible End AN

I'm sorry to all of my readers, but I'm not really feeling any inspiration to continue my story. I know you guys have been great and stuff, and you are all really nice for the positive reviews. But I'm just not as focused on my story like I was in the first few chapters. If you want me to continue, I will not stop until I've finished the story, but it will take longer for me to update. I need you all to come up with ideas, or if you want to start your own story on my plot, I don't mind. I just need to know if I should finish. Please review, and I am desperate for any Ideas. I am going to make Gaara and Sakura just friends, so no make out scenes. That would be awkward. Thank you to all of my readers, and please review if you want me to continue.

-Sincerely, GaaraxShukakuIScute.


End file.
